Nine Safe Holiday Traditions to Start With Your Little Ones

Happy holidays! It’s the most wonderful time of the year—and that fact doesn’t change even in a year that has brought with it a unique set of trials and tribulations.

Your little one doesn’t fully understand what’s going on in the world--and that’s a good thing here. They just see that pretty lights have once again popped up around town and their buddies Rudolph, Santa, and Frosty are coming out to play. As a parent, you want to make this year as special and as “normal” for them as possible. You could also use a bit of cheer and familiarity yourself after facing so many new questions and doubts in 2020.

Thankfully, there are so many traditions that are perfectly suited to how we are living our lives these days. Below we rounded up a few of our favorite ideas for celebrating the season safely.

Look At Christmas Lights

Whether you have a car or just your own two feet you can still enjoy the sights and sounds of the holiday season. More families went all out—and earlier—this year with lights and decorations to help spread some joy, and it’d practically be rude not to go appreciate their efforts. Bundle up, pour some hot cocoa in a thermos, and spend some time looking at the best dressed houses in your neighborhood. You can even have your littles ones draw their favorite homes as a fun next-day activity.

Decorate and Drop Off Cookies

We can’t spend time with all of our favorite people this year, but we can make many of them cookies. Turn it into an all-day affair—bake and decorate cookies in the morning, then don your Santa hats, cue up the carols, and give out holiday treats and cheer to everyone on your list. After nap time, of course.

Do Christmas or New Year’s Eve Pajama Exchange

At any age, you know it’s hard to beat going to sleep in a new pair of pajamas—especially our 100% Pima Cotton pajamas. We have nightwear for the whole family, including special pajamas in a festive Christmas deer pattern that would make even Rudolph jealous. You can browse our pajama shop here, and you’ll be sure to get years of good nights’ sleep out of our durable pieces that all boast the incredible softness of our special Peruvian cotton, which has a longer fiber length to give it extra smoothness and help it stand up to wash after wash.

Need an extra special gift for a new mom, too? Check out the pieces in our Mommy + Mini collections.

Have A Holiday Movie Marathon

There’s no place like home for the holidays—specifically, in the kitchen eating a festive treat or in front of the couch watching a classic movie (also eating a treat). Introduce your little ones to the movies you return to every year and teach them the joys and lessons of “The Grinch,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” and “Frosty The Snowman,” to name just a few options. Put them on the calendar and watch a movie a night, or pick out of a Santa hat to see where to start.

Make a Holiday Craft

Your parents or primary school teachers might have had you decorate an ornament, and if they did, we would take a bet that it’s still on your folks’ or even your own tree today. Just like the best gifts, the most beautiful ornaments aren’t bought in a store, so create a memory and a keepsake by honoring the tradition and making ornaments as a family this year. Even for your absolute youngest babes, you can still help them hold a crayon and watch them go. Pinterest is full of ornament templates that you can print off for free, or you can paint white or clear ornaments with holiday scenes and sayings.

Make a Holiday Package For Someone In Need

Even if we can’t break bread with them, there has never been a more necessary time for us to help our neighbors. Teach your children the importance of giving back by putting together a toy or food package for an organization supporting those in need. You can also search for safe, local volunteer opportunities that are appropriate for children here, or you can help foster community from home by writing letters to people in need, including senior citizens and patients in hospice. This year has been too lonely for everyone, and it’s scientifically proven that helping others makes us feel good, too.

Host an Online Christmas Play or Talent Show

Who remembers being in a Christmas play as a child? We might be getting together as a group online this year, but that doesn’t mean the show can’t go on. Assign parts, email out a script, and put together a virtual play complete with costumes and props (bed sheets and kitchen tools always work). Your kids won’t have to actually memorize their lines, and you can record it on your computer to cherish forever.

If your extended family holds the next generation of comedians, Broadway performers, and future winners of “The X Factor,” you can also put together a Zoom Talent Show and give each household a time slot to show off their take on holiday magic. You can award prizes—or just appreciate the laughs.

Make Homemade Presents

Let’s be real—every parent knows asking your child to help make a homemade anything means they will also be gifting you a homemade mess, but we’re willing to take the glitter dust this year for a few good hours of merriment and distraction. Save some money and make some memories by having your littles ones help make these hot chocolate kits, cute cookie cutter tea towels, or mason jar snow globes.

Play Games on Zoom

Not sure what to do with the kids on your holiday zoom? Try playing a round of Christmas Charades, Name That Carol, or Fa-La-La-Bingo. Download a template online and let the reindeer games begin!